“The plan is to pull together 50 Web sites, one for each state, into a political hub called Politicker.com. Each site will serve as an intensely local source for political articles, speculation and scandal. — From NYT.com

Ten sites are online already, and the 11th, covering Kentucky, is scheduled to go up this week. The site(s) will be advertiser supported. “Instead of taking out ads in five papers across the state, if you want to reach the most influential and politically active people, all you have to do is buy an ad package on the site.”

Learfield’s news division operates four news networks that cover the legislature and news from around the state and politics. I’d be hard pressed to say exactly how many of our stories are political (year in and year out) but a fair number. Will something like Politicker.com be going after the same online audio?

Maybe. While we still see ourselves as being in the network radio business, a venture like Politicker.com might begin to answer the question: Who will our future competitors be and how will the be different from us?